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Cleovald Dofstez
Cleovald Dofstez Born in the Goffa Province in Year 225, youngest child of the most highly decorated military hero in Goffa history, Mont Cleovald. Cleovald Dofstez felt any attempt to emulate the heroism of his forebears and siblings was likely to prove sub-optimal, especially given that his elder brother, Cleovald Claffy was already rapidly advancing through the ranks of the Goffa Army at the age of 15. Dofstez decided he would opt out of the military draft. While technically compulsory, beginning military service at 13 was not enforced by anything other than huge societal pressure. No legal compulsion to serve existed, it was simply expected, and opting out was a source of lifelong mistrust. To avoid embarrassing his family, he decided to emigrate to the Protectorate before his 13th birthday in the Year 238, knowing he would soon be forgotten, leaving his family's admired reputation barely tarnished. Enrolling in the prestigious and exclusive Del Ray Institute he began his education among the finest minds in the Protectorate, including Victor Finch, the youngest son of Vincent Finch, the wealthiest businessman alive. Del Ray had no term fees, if you were good enough, you were in, its existence funded entirely by former alumni. Dofstez became instant friends with Victor Finch, the two of them showing astonishing skill in all the practical disciplines, where the Del Ray system encouraged them to specialise but expand. Cleovald, who'd never been encouraged in non-military matters, found himself at home in an environment where a vast breadth of knowledge and expertise was available to him, and quickly accepted the affectionate nickname "Clay" which is something he would not have tolerated back in the Goffa Province. Having no family in the Protectorate, and no friends outside the Institute, it soon became an established tradition that Clay would holiday with the Finch family, warmly welcomed by Vincent Finch, and affectionately teased by Victor's elder brother, Vincent. There was no warmth from Veronica Finch,the aloof sister, one year Victor and Clay's senior. She was firmly set on the style of the distant and unattainable beauty, rather too in love with the affectation, but fully committed to it. She was fully aware that young master Dofstez had a deep and involved crush on her, and made sure she did nothing whatever to acknowledge it, or him, beyond the absolute minimum level of interaction someone would spare a stranger holding a door open. He had a wry appreciation of their one-sided relationship, and would behave as if she were perfectly polite and delightful at every act of dismissal and every snub. Victor was bemused by the relationship, observing that Veronica was not unaffected, even if she were genuinely uninterested. His politeness, charm, and seemingly infinite patience highlighted the underlying unpleasantness of the diffident aesthetic she aspired to, an annoyance that just made her colder. When the time came that Clay and Victor were due to graduate from the Del Ray Institute in Year 243, both agreed they must work together in the field of business. Clay wanted them to strike out on their own, but the immense opportunities available to a member of the Finch family were too much for Victor to cast aside, and reluctantly, on the insistence that they act as equals, Clay agreed that they would work for Finch Venture Capital as troubleshooters for Vincent Finch. Clay saw the same dead-end for Victor as he'd seen for himself, with an older brother being groomed for succession, Victor would never get to shine to the potential Clay knew he had in him, worse in this case, because Victor was actually far more gifted than his admittedly talented brother, who had much too much taste for the advantages of wealth and not enough interest in consolidating it into power. Creating a leveraging power was Clay's natural gift, and Victor was quick to learn the means and methods from his friends, absorbing them so thoroughly they became instinctive. The professional relationship was powerful, although slightly complicated by Victor having feelings for Clay of the kind Clay could not return, but they were quickly taking on huge amounts of responsibility that Vernon was perfectly happy to see them harness, knowing he himself did not have an eye for the details, and that when he eventually took over FVC they would be an invaluable resource to keep the company in the best shape. At the final gathering where all the family were present, Vincent Finch declared that he considered Clay an official member of the family, although with no inheritance. Even Veronica managed to applaud the addition unprompted, though she had her own view on Clay's new status. "If you're my brother now you should probably stop making those lovey-dovey eyes you've been throwing at me since the day you first saw me." "If you're my sister now, you should probably start admitting you're glad to see me when I come to visit." After three years streamlining and expanding the company, Clay and Victor were wrangling a business which was in a bureaucratic and tax quagmire on a failing PPB controlled planet called Sylvian's World, when the news reached them that Vincent and Vernon Finch had been killed during an attempt to set an ocean crossing record in an experimental jet-boat. To the surprise of no-one except Veronica, Victor had been named as the next in-line to take over the company after Vernon. Having gathered himself, Victor made ready to leave Sylvian's World and assume control of FVC, offering Clay the position of Vice-President. Having seen Victor take the position he knew he deserved, he declined the offer, having seen a path for himself that he wanted to pursue, once again in nobody's shadow, and nobody's second in command. He decided to stay on Sylvian's World, seeing the huge potential it had, and the crippling political burdens that were dragging it down. He launched a campaign to have the world ditch it's association with the PPB and switch to being a full member of the Protectorate. The PPB dismissed the threat of any such thing happening. Nobody had ever left the PPB, and the idea of doing so seemed crazy to all commentators, until the final few days of the campaign when they realised Clay was winning. In October of Year 246 Sylvian's World voted to sever all ties with the PPB. Full Focus Protectorate membership required the election of a governor to the CoG, and almost before he knew what was happening, a massive groundswell of public opinion had him nominated to run for the post, a run which was totally unopposed. Before he knew it he was taking a seat in the Chamber of Governors with an entire planet depending on him. As it turned out, the incredible complexities of Vincent Finch's business were actually far more elaborate than running a single planet, so he found he excelled at the job, and he was soon the most popular and sought after governor in the chamber. Not a party or major social gathering dared go without an invite for Cleovald Dofstez. Further gubernatorial elections saw opponents come and go, some wanting to revert to PPB governance. The electoral performance of these challengers, in spite of some seeming to have vast reserves of money and dirty campaigning behind them, never exceeded the pitiful. Dofstez was untouchable. A subtle, charming and effective political operator, during his fourth term he was approached by the Select Board about joining their ranks. The upper-chamber of the CoG chose the best to serve among them, and their role was to choose the Sovereign and oversee their work, keeping the executive in check at a remove from the demagoguery that the raw people-power of democracy could sometimes present. Dofstez agreed, and Governor Dofstez became Governor-Select Dofstez. After two terms serving on the Select Board he was required to either leave, or relinquish his governorship so he could become a full-time member. Having chosen a sound successor to follow him as governor of Sylvian's World, he took his permanent place on the Select Board.